Results

ORLANDO, FLA. – After winning a close match over Saint Mary's University on Friday, the St. Catherine University tennis team was hoping to carry that momentum into their first match of spring break against regionally ranked Carthage College. Just like on Friday, it came down to the final singles match. Unlike Friday, the Wildcats were unable to come out on top as they fell to the regionally ranked Lady Reds 5-4.

Despite the loss, St. Kate's played extremely strong tennis against the No. 16 team in the Central Region. In doubles play, the Wildcats won two of three matches and took a 2-1 lead into singles play. The no. 1 doubles team of Mikinzee Salo (Brainerd, Minn. / Brainerd) and Angie Lorenzen (Mitchell, S.D. / Mitchell) opened with an 8-3 victory over Carthage's Max Mella and Angelica Emmanouil. Mella and Emmanouil are currently ranked as the No. 8 doubles team in the Central Region and have been one of the top teams in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) all season.

At the No. 2 doubles spot, Alicia Knoll (Waseca, Minn. / Waseca) and Julia Sporer (Rogers, Minn. / Rogers) recorded the other win for St. Kate's, beating Casey Frommer and Taylor Bolyard by a score of 8-6. Jessica Duda (St. Michael, Minn. / St. Michael-Albertville) and Leah Obert (Inver Grove Heights, Minn. / Simley) fought hard in the final doubles match, but fell to the Lady Red's Eliza Barter and Kristen Kalinka 8-6.

Singles play continued to be just as competitive as it was in doubles, as five of the six matches required a tiebreaker to determine the winner.  No. 3 player Lorenzen dropped the first set against Boyland 6-7 before coming back to win set two 6-4 and the tiebreaker by a score of 11-9. Sporer also needed a tiebreaker at the No. 5 spot to beat Barter 7-5, 3-6, 10-8.

Like Lorenzen, No. 2 singles player Knoll opened with a 6-4 win over Frommer before falling by the same score in the second set and 10-7 in the deciding tiebreaker. Salo also opened with a 6-1 win against Mella at the No. 1 singles sport before falling 7-5 in the second set and 10-4 in the tiebreak. At the No. 6 spot, Obert rallied to win set number two against the Lady Red's Kristen Peterson 7-6 after falling in the opening set 6-4, forcing the tiebreaker. Unfortunately, Carthage earned the point as Peterson defeated Obert 10-8 in the final set.

Duda also competed in the No. 4 singles spot for the Wildcats. She fell to Emmanouil 6-0, 6-2 in straight sets.  

St. Kate's will continue their spring break trip tomorrow with matches against Hamilton College and Elmhurst College. Then, they have a day off Tuesday before their final match of the trip against Hollins University on Wednesday. Currently, Hamilton had a 4-1 overall record and is on a one game win streak while Elmhurst is 6-6.